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Mike Rosen

Rosen: Cam(PAIN) and suffering

By Mike Rosen

Posted:
10/25/2012 12:01:00 AM MDT

Yes, the flood of campaign literature in your mailbox is annoying, as are the endless campaign ads on television and radio. And let's not forget the incessant phone calls at home from political pollsters, candidates' campaigns and activist groups.

While the problem may be clear, the remedy isn't. For better or worse, this is simply a consequence of a free society with free elections. You could pass a law to stop these kinds of things, except that it would run afoul of the Constitution. Think about it. That's why you can have the phone company block out commercial solicitors but not political messages.

And that's why the U.S. Supreme Court, in the landmark 2010 case Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission, struck down some of the restrictions in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. The Supremes declared political spending to be a form of protected speech under the First Amendment. That ruling also protected the rights of corporations and labor unions to seek to inform or influence the voting public via political advertising.

Of course, liberals and Democrats don't mind if unions get involved in politics; that's a major player in their political coalition. Corporations, conversely, are automatically suspect, as is most of private enterprise as compared to government enterprise, which liberals see as fair, benevolent and untainted by profit. So, they regard the Citizens United ruling as blasphemy.

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But how could any private business — corporations, partnerships, LLCs, sole proprietorships — be reasonably banned from political involvement, financially or otherwise? That would be arbitrary discrimination. The bigger government gets and the more it seeks to control the private sector, the more businesses are justified in defending themselves and the producer interest in society; and the more essential that defense is to their survival.

Businesses are no more a "special interest" than unions, environmentalists, the ACLU, government employees, gays, feminists, illegal immigrants, the AARP, farmers, teachers, students, or any other group that seeks favorable treatment from government.

A simplistic argument for banning businesses or others from spending money to elect office-holders they favor is that that will enable them to "buy" such politicians. Not necessarily. It's more likely they're supporting a politician who already shares their views on a matter of public policy. For example, if I were to run for office, the National Rifle Association wouldn't be "buying" my vote with their support. I believe in the Second Amendment rights of individuals to bear arms. They already have my sympathy.

Restrictions on campaign spending favor elected incumbents with advantages of public access and exposure over potential challengers who have to spend more money to be heard. Such restrictions would also leverage the political power and influence of liberal outlets that dominate the so-called "news" media. They're routinely biased in favor of leftist politicians, but their influence isn't counted as a campaign contribution.

Since they, too, are corporations, wouldn't it be consistent to have their content and budgets monitored and regulated by some government panel of objective wise men? Once again, not practical. But their influence can be mitigated by campaign spending on the other side.

It's a sad commentary on the civic engagement of our society that so many people base their votes on sensationalistic, distorted, even hysterical, 30-second political ads on TV or radio. But there's no practical remedy for that, either.

Requiring a passing grade on a civics and current events exam, or an IQ test as a condition of voting wouldn't pass constitutional muster. The prerogative and lawful right of any voter — or non-voter — to be apathetic and ignorant is inherent in the mixed blessings of democracy.

So, you suck it up and endure the annoyances and distortions of political campaigns as part of the price of freedom. If it's any consolation, this isn't a problem in North Korea.

Freelance columnist Mike Rosen's radio show airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on 850-KOA.

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